


all they do is watch us kill

by ictus



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 20:12:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14196843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ictus/pseuds/ictus
Summary: The Red Hood's been stalking the streets of Gotham for all of ten days when he attracts a shadow.





	all they do is watch us kill

**Author's Note:**

> Set during UTRH in an AU where Tim is still in Gotham, and everyone's a little more morally grey than canon would have you believe. Title from Batman #648.

Jason’s mother always spoke of Gotham’s gravity, the inexorable magnetism that draws you to the city and _keeps_ you. Gravity has always been so much stronger in Gotham, she’d say. Over time, Jason came to learn that this was nothing more than a flimsy justification for his parents’ inability to surmount the hardships that weighed them down; a running gag with a worn-out punchline. But even now as Jason returns to Gotham, he’s drawn in by the pull of her gravity, feels its weight in his bones, and knows his mother’s words to be true. Gotham likes to keep her children and Jason, ever the wayward son, is no exception.

He’s been stalking the streets of Gotham for all of ten days when he attracts a shadow. It happens sooner than expected—but then again, he hasn’t exactly been _discreet_. A blink-and-you’ll-miss-it flicker of red in his periphery, and Jason can’t help but grin under the helmet. The new kid moves with all the grace you’d expect of Robin, but the deliberation is all too pronounced, as if every jump and landing were born out of meticulous repetition rather than instinct.

Still, if Bruce has sent eyes after him then he may as well give the kid something to see. He’s got his earpiece tuned into a police frequency that alerts him to a mugging in Burnley. The perp is armed and dangerous, and fits the description of a man wanted for murder. How does that expression go, about the birds and the stones? Jason has always been an opportunist, and tonight is no exception.

He’s in pursuit of the perp before the transmission’s ended, grappling between rooftops, and the distant flutter of Robin’s cape tells Jason that this little game of cat and mouse is _on_. Jason spots the crook and heads him off, dropping down from a second storey ledge into the mouth of the alley. He positions his landing three feet in front of the perp, and the look of pure horror on his face is so goddamn _comical_ that Jason almost can’t bring himself to erase it with his fist.

But he does.

Over and over and _over_ again. A soft sound nearby tells him his audience has joined him in the alley, and Jason wonders how far he can take it before Robin will intervene. By now the perp is unconscious, and Jason lets his body drop to the ground, decides to slow it down a little, draw it out. He’s already taken it much further than what Batman would permit; the kind of brute force that would have earned him a terse lecture followed by a stony silence. He kicks the perp, stomping down hard on his ribcage in a way that could only ever be described as excessive.

Robin still hasn’t moved. Even though Jason can’t see him, he can practically hear the gears grinding away, and jesus christ this kid is _pensive_. Jason recognised the thug the moment he saw him, has been keeping tabs on the GCPD’s wanted list. Knows this man beat his wife into a coma because he suspected her of cheating, and put a bullet into the skull of the man he thought responsible. Jason _knows_ he deserves this.

But Robin doesn’t.

Jason keeps at it, both of them playing this twisted game of chicken where Robin’s waiting to see how far Jason will go, and Jason’s waiting to see how far he’ll _let_ him.

He decides to kick it up a notch. He spots a two by four lying discarded in the alley, and starts laying into the perp in earnest. The crack of bone and the sounds of the perp’s wet breathing echo around the alley.

The minutes lengthen.

Robin still hasn’t moved.

With a final blow to the perp’s windpipe, Jason knows he’s won. And yet, he decides to go the extra mile, empties half a magazine into the thug’s lifeless body. Decides to send a message to Batman about the type of vigilante he’s dealing with.  

Robin disappeared the second Jason drew his gun, so he can’t send his regards to Bruce. But there’s a security camera above him that’s captured everything. He looks up at it, faces it squarely, and _waves_.

Surely Barb will be kind enough to pass along his message. 


End file.
